Well, buying a property in the Philippines had given me a lot nagging headache. I never know there were loopholes and empty promises within it. I was duped totally but I can't go back now and just left all the money I have invested. I have to continue and think of the best way out of it.
I started to write this blog to warn potential alien or foreign buyer's in buying any kind of property in the Philippines. This is my own personal testament or experience and I am attesting to it to the best of my capacities and abilities that everything I wrote here were true and not creatively fabricated.
Two years back, I was an eager balikbayan coming back to my homeland sadly because my mom was slowly deteriorating and on a verge of dying. I was lucky enough to have seen her alive and had took care of her before she gave up her last breath and went to heaven and be with our great Creator. I was glad she did not suffer that much.
After, the funeral I went back to Manila to wind up from my grief and was offered to peruse a showroom of a pre-saled condominium intended to be built at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City near Makati and Roxas Blvd. Now the place was a sprawling commercial area and the demands for an investment was quite high.
Judging the progress of the city's construction developments I was lured to sign the reservation form and had downed 50,000 PHP with the promise that my agent will loyalty stick with me until the end of acquiring the property from processing the loans until the turn-over year. I was wrong and I was duped.
I got hooked with the empty promise (which I naively neglected to consider) and I can't stop my excitement and was tempted to buy another property in Cubao which is more cheaper than the first one I got so I started to sign another reservation form and had downed 15,000 PHP with another agent which my best friend had introduced to me.
After my vacation I went back to the States and religiously paying my monthly amortizations for both properties on time without any history of lapse or arrears. Then after 18 months, I recently came back to the Philippines to process my mortgage loans for both properties from Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).
Now the problem is, I neglected to read all the fine lines two years ago before I had signed both contracts which says that; "the buyer will be the one to transact the loan with the bank" and for me this added another toll on me because I don't have any idea at all where to start. That was my grave mistake plus the fact that I was assured that the agent will stick to me until the end, I did not know that was the catch!
After 18 months I was so ignorant to know that I got lured with the promise of being assisted until I acquired the loan and now almost two years had passed I don't even know where to start or where to contact the right people. I tried to call the first agent but to no avail. She doesn't even returned or responded to all my distressed calls and messages.
Good thing the agent from the Cubao property which my friend had introduced to me two years ago had showed up and helped me with all the paperworks to be submitted to the bank as well as assisted me on what to prepare for both properties despite she was my agent for the property in Cubao. Had she not assisted me to get the both loans may be my dream houses will be left floating on the dust.
I successfully got approved with my loans for the two condominiums eventually with the aid of the second agent and she told me that the first agent had already cashed out her commission after I paid the first six months amortizations. And now when I called her and even messaged her through Facebook she didn't even responded to all my calls and messages.
I was so lucky enough that my friend's agent had stuck with me until I got the loan. I thanked her very intently and sincerely and I treated her with royalty with a nice banquet.
So to all potential buyers who wished to buy a condominium in the Philippines, be careful in what you were signing. Always read the fine lines first before branding your precious signature on the paper or you will regret in once you finished paying your amortization and you can't even turn your back.
Though time is of the essence always be sure to take time reading what you are signing for. Be prudent enough and don't get fooled with empty promises. Better to have everything in writing rather than in verbal agreement.
I had another dilemma with the property I bought at Fort Bonifacio because I didn't know that the pay up for the amortization was 36 months. I thought it was only 26 months. Despite the loan was been approved ahead of time (almost 12 months ahead) I still have to reinstate it once the turn over time will be near. That's another 18 months and for sure more money will be involved. It was mind bending!
Now I am glad everything was been taken cared of but still I can imagine how much time and money I've been wasted just to get at where I am now. I am so thankful that my friend's agent had helped me until I was done.
Aaah..... have I known how difficult it was to acquire a property in the Philippines I should have declined the offer in the first place. But it's too late to relent now and I am shredding a lot of money on the process already for the two properties.
Hopefully, time will come when I paid both properties fully then I can sell it at a much higher market price and profit exorbitantly from them. I'm crossing my fingers to have that realized.
Hope this will serve as a lesson to me as well as a guide to potential buyers. This was written not to discourage those potential buyers but to warn them on what to ask, do, plan, and decide. Good luck on your future plans guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment